Mahindra may launch petrol XUV and Scorpio this year

With the mounting pressure from the NGT (National Green Tribunal) to ban large capacity diesel cars across major cities, Mahindra may introduce the petrol variants of the XUV500 and Scorpio later this year. The company has confirmed its intentions of moving away from the ‘diesel-only’ approach for the entire line up.

In an interview recently, to another publication, Pawan Goenka, executive director Mahindra & Mahindra said, “Despite being a diesel player, we had a feeling that a diesel-only approach may not be good enough. Now, we will launch the Scorpio and XUV500 in petrol this year and in future all vehicles will have both options.”

The Supreme Court in the last December banned the sale of 2000cc and above diesel cars in Delhi and a similar ruling has been implemented in Kerala recently. Further, NGT has recently proposed a similar ban in 11 more cities, though that has been put on hold for now with intervention from the Central Government.

Mahindra, at the moment, is heavily dependent on the high capacity diesel engines for its SUV range. Although, they recently introduced a sub-2.0-litre diesel engine in Delhi for the Scorpio and the XUV500, it is not a permanent solution. A new petrol engine that can power the large SUVs, will certainly give Mahindra an edge, allowing them to offer cars across the country.

We are waiting for the company’s response on the capacity and other details, but the rumours suggest that it will be a 2.2-litre petrol unit initially for the XUV500 and Scorpio, with smaller 1.6-litre engine option for rest of the range coming next year. The new petrol engines should also power the India-bound Ssangyong range at the time of the launch.